Thursday, May 24, 2012

Why Jonathan must intervene to save us - Lulu

This headache called football again?

Former President of
the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Abdullahi Sani Lulu, may have in a bid
to find a political solution to the on-going prosecution of the football
quartet which is handled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
wrote President Goodluck Jonathan wherein he accused his predecessor of
mismanaging N2.8b his board left behind.

He had written the
President on the 1st March, 2012. Part of the letter read: “We were
most prudent in the running of the affairs of the NFF and we made personal
sacrifices so as to invest our resources in viable projects that will bring
visible changes to the football sector in Nigeria. The record of our financial
management was never witnessed in the history of the football organization in
Nigeria and we stand to defend this record anytime,” he wrote.

According to Lulu, “I
devoted my best talents to the good management of football in the country. Indeed,
from the unfortunate and unprecedented decline in our football today, it is
obvious that those who orchestrated our removal from office had no good plans
for the country.

“Nigeria football
is at its lowest ebb but all those who vilified us unjustifiably are silent. During
our four years tenure, we left a comfortable balance sheet, won gold and silver
from the U-17 World Cup in Korea and Nigeria respectively and got Nigeria to
the quarter-finals of the 2008 Nations Cup. Also, we qualified for the World
Cup.”

“It is obvious that
we have suffered grave injustice. We were perhaps misunderstood or the
clandestine group that had always controlled the affairs of our football to
their selfish advantage was not happy with our independent and forthright
position on the administration of the game and as a result, they smeared us at
any opportunity.

“We acted with
courage for the future of football and did not want to compromise our
vision and principle even when it was
clear to us that those against us had great reach in their unjustified plot. Their
action is now history but its aftermath has taken a great toll on the standard
of football in our beloved country,” he concluded.